Greetings to the entire community that reads me, this time I bring you a post about the definition, the objectives, the types, the content, and the phases for the elaboration of a manual. The main objective is to indicate the bases for the preparation of manuals, this helps the functions of management, coordination and administrative evaluation through the systematization of activities, the identification of processes and the definition of the method to carry them out. It is convenient to prepare this post, to serve as a guide in order to provide the necessary guidance to develop the manuals.
One of the fundamental purposes of a security technician is the review and constant updating of systems, structures and work procedures in companies to guarantee the safety of all. Procedures manuals are administrative instruments that support this idea and are considered fundamental documents for coordination, direction, evaluation and administrative control, as well as for consultation in the daily development of activities.
Definition of manual
It is an administrative instrument that contains in an explicit, orderly and systematic way information about objectives, policies, attributions, organization and procedures of the organs of an institution; as well as the instructions or agreements that are considered necessary for the execution of the work assigned to the personnel, having as a frame of reference the objectives of the institution.
It is that document that will contain the description of the activities that must be observed in the performance of the functions of an administrative unit or several of them. It includes the positions and administrative units with their corresponding participations and responsibilities and also all those resources, information and necessary elements that contribute to the excellent operation of a company.
Objectives of a manual
a) Compile in an orderly, sequential and detailed manner the operations in charge of the institution, the positions and administrative units involved, specifying their participation in said operations and the formats to be used to carry out the activities indicated in the procedure.
b) Standardize and control compliance with work routines and avoid arbitrary alteration.
c) Determine in a simple way the responsibilities for failures or errors.
d) Facilitate the audit work, the evaluation of internal control and its monitoring.
e) Increase the efficiency of employees, indicating what they should do and how they should do it.
f) Help in the coordination of work and avoid duplication of functions.
g) To constitute a basis for the subsequent analysis of the work and the improvement of systems, procedures and methods.
Types of manuals
Organization Manual:
It contains detailed information on the Organization such as: background, legal framework, attributions, structure, functions, among others.
Rules and Procedures Manual:
It defines in a detailed, logical and sequential way the steps to follow to carry out a process, procedure or activity, explicitly identifying the administrative unit and the person responsible for executing each of the steps. It indicates the rules that govern each process or procedure. They are instruments that are part of the Internal Control System.
Specific Operation Manual:
Used to describe in a particular and detailed way the procedures of the Commissions, Committees, etc. It also serves for the development of technical and operational manuals, etc. In the case of Commissions and Committees, their organization, norms and policies that govern them must be included.
Structure of the manuals
Organization Manual
• Cover page
• Index
• Introduction
• Background of the organization
• Legal bases
• Goals
• Structure of the organization
• Mission
• View
• Values of the organization
• Organization chart
• Objective of each unit
• Functions and powers
Rules and Procedures Manual
• Cover page
• Review and approval signatures
• Updates page
• Index
• Introduction
• Legal bases
• Scope
• Goals
• Rules
• Procedures
• Forms and instructions
• Glossary
• Flow chart
• Annexes
Specific operation manual
• Cover page
• Index
• Introduction
• Legal bases
• Goals
• Structure of the organization
• Powers
• Functions
• Organization chart
• Scope
• Rules
• Procedures
• Forms and instructions
• Glossary
• Flow chart
• Annexes
Phases of the elaboration of a manual.
Work Planning.
At this stage, a working group is formed in charge of preparing the manuals. This can be made up of a representative from each of the administrative units of the institution or by a group of officials determined by the hierarch. A coordinator or person in charge must be appointed who will lead the work of the group in order to maintain homogeneity in the content and presentation of the information.
Also in this phase, the methodological tools that will be used to obtain the information to prepare the manuals are established, as well as the type of information that will be required and the schedule of activities to be developed for the preparation of the manuals.
Information Search.
Once the work planning is in place, the necessary information to prepare the manuals begins to be collected, according to the previously established methodological tools and the selected investigative techniques. The search for this information can be done by:
Documentary research: it tries to find all those printed or electronic documents in which relevant information is obtained for the preparation of the respective manual, be it normative, technical studies that support a process of administrative reorganization, previous procedure manuals, work reports, manuals service, institutional memories, among others.
Monumental investigation: it deals with all the information that is not written in any document and before which one must resort to interviews, surveys, observations, tests, among others, to obtain said information from the officials who know it.
Analysis of the information.
Once the necessary information for the preparation of the manual has been obtained, it must be organized and analyzed in a way that presents a logical order for the development of the manual. To guide the process of ordering the information, the following questions can be used:
What work or activity do you do?
Who is responsible for carrying it out? Or in a certain case if you do not have the data of the person in charge, who does it?
What are the means you have to do the job?
What is the work done for?
How is work done or done?
When or at what time is it done?
Why is it done?
These questions facilitate the work of analyzing the information and allow to know the activities of the institution, explain its behavior, identify the relationships that occur between each event, understand the operation of the institution and maintain the sequence and logic of the information.
Preparation of the Manual.
In this phase, the design and presentation that will be used to prepare the manual is established, for which the following must be considered:
The writing of the document, analyze to whom the manual is directed, to manage a clear, precise and understandable vocabulary for all users of the same
The elaboration of diagrams, be it flow diagrams, physical space distribution, organizational structure, process map, among others.
The format, making sure that the information presented keeps a logical sequence, that there is uniformity of the letter, and that its wording is understandable, among other aspects of form.
Validation of the Manual.
Once the administrative manual has been prepared, it must be presented to the hierarch and those responsible for each administrative unit to which the manual corresponds, so that they can proceed to validate whether the information presented corresponds to the responsibilities, attributions, functions and activities that It is up to the Institution to do both; as well as the administrative unit or units to which the manual is directed.
Authorization of the Manual.
When the manual has been validated, it must be formalized. At this point, the Institutional Hierarch or the person in charge of the corresponding administrative unit, must authorize the manual, so that it can begin with its reproduction, dissemination and distribution at the institutional level in general or to the corresponding administrative units.
Dissemination and distribution of the Manual.
Once a manual has been validated and authorized, it is very important that it be distributed among the corresponding administrative units, so that the officials have it at their disposal, know the document, and use it in practice. Likewise, the electronic version of the document may be incorporated into the Institution's electronic portal, in order to provide citizens with free access to the institution's organizational information.
Review and Update of the Manual.
The Manuals are subject to periodic reviews, and therefore, they must be flexible to the changes that occur in the Institution, for this, a record of their modifications and updates must be kept, in order to keep them attached to the institutional reality.
Important!
The preparation of manuals, which are the basic guides to carry out each of the activities carried out in any organization, is of utmost relevance for security. However, the importance of manuals is implicit in the content, since as they are consultation documents for all employees, they know from the beginning, both the tasks of each one, as well as what should not be done in the organization. Let us remember that it is a consultation tool, where the information can be modified according to growth and new ways of operation, as well as the changes that arise in the units.
It is also important to report every time there are changes in the manuals, not only in Operations, but in all the others. Finally, we strongly recommend considering that the manuals have to be practical and not simply abandoned in the archives, it is necessary to put into operation all the knowledge transmitted and collected within these documents to ensure the safety of each and every one of the members of the organization. organization.
Thanks for reading me, until the next post.
Raosubterraneo
